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		Making a stand for transparency Wednesday 6th July 2005 In July 2004, José Manual Barroso was nominated as the new EU Commission President. In August, he enjoyed a lavish holiday on a luxury yacht owned by Greek multi-millionaire ship-owner Spiros Latsis. In September, the Commission nodded through, under state-aid rules, a €10 million grant for a shipyard substantially owned by Latsis companies. A happy coincidence? Or a bad case of cronyism? After the facts were published by a German newspaper, Barroso resisted calls from a number of MEPs to come to the parliament and explain this apparent conflict of interests. So the MEPs hit on the device of a Motion of Censure to force him to come to the parliament and explain himself. The Motion did not accuse him of wrongdoing. It merely called for an explanation. The motion needed 74 signatures to go forward, and I and four of my Conservative colleagues signed it. Other Conservatives opposed the move. Apparently Barroso and Latsis were old college friends. What could be more natural than a holiday together? Yes, but the Commission President, like Caesar's wife, should be above suspicion. There was no proof of wrongdoing, they said. No, but there was surely a case to answer. The grant was Greek money, not EU money. Yes, but the Commission approval was a vital element. In September, Barroso was not yet Commission President. No, but it is naive to assume he had no influence. He would have been in regular contact with senior Commission officials, receiving briefings. A smile, a raised eyebrow, a chance remark could have influenced the decision. Less honourably, some colleagues suggested that we should back off because Barroso comes from the centre-right, as though we should apply lower standards of probity to our own side than to the socialists. The big groups in the parliament, led by the EPP, adopted a dual-track strategy to block the motion and avoid embarrassment for the EU institutions ahead of the French referendum vote. First, they put huge pressure on MEPs to withdraw their names. I and my four colleagues received letters from our Chief Whip threatening dire consequences unless we did so. But we were elected on a manifesto commitment to oppose fraud. How could we withdraw? The motion was duly tabled with 74+ signatures. So their second tactic was to have a non-debate, with only the leaders of the political groups speaking -- effectively silencing dissidents like myself. But with the aid of the parliament's resident procedural guru Richard Corbett, I discovered that I could use Rule 141 to make an intervention in the debate, in front of the whole Commission, the parliament and half the world's press. I used the opportunity to criticise the action of the groups in closing ranks and seeking to hush up the affair. Hans-Gert Poettering, leader of the EPP, who spoke soon after, was incandescent with rage. He declared that I was fired from the EPP Group -- only to discover later that he lacked the authority to fire me. Within hours of his embarrassing outburst, I received a letter from the Conservative Chief Whip suspending me from the delegation. A fortnight later on June 7th a motion was tabled at the EPP group meeting, calling for my expulsion. To the surprise of many colleagues, I spoke in favour of the motion. I was glad that the EPP had finally recognised what I had been saying for years -- that the aims and ethos of the EPP are wholly incompatible with conservative policies and principles. I would not resign from the EPP, because to do so I should have had to defy the discipline of the Conservative delegation. But I was happy to be fired. Since then, I have been overwhelmed by hundreds of messages of support from all levels of the Party -- MPs, PPCs, Constituency Chairmen, agents, members and activists. Several Constituencies in my region have passed formal resolutions of support. I was criticised at one point for a letter to a UK paper in which I argued that MEPs frequently take a different view of European issues from their parties at home. Yet these events prove my point. While many Conservative colleagues in Brussels oppose my stand, the party at home overwhelmingly backs me. Their support has been heart-warming. Life on the outside, as a non-inscrit member, has surprising consolations. I receive massively more 3701 information funding than before -- of which I shall make good use. I have better access to speaking time. Not only did I get time during the recent debate with Tony Blair (which I should never have got as an EPP member) -- I was actually the first Conservative to speak. And it is far easier to book parliamentary facilities. And the future? To dispel a current rumour, I have no intention of leaving the Conservative Party. Indeed I am keen to normalise relations with the Conservative delegation, and negotiations are under way. Watch this space.